A Vicious Vixen
by mysticaltomes
Summary: Esme is a young Varisian Rogue. Sold into slavery at an early age she was raised as a rogue and later a courtesan. This takes place in the d20 Pathfinder world of Golarion. WIP
1. The Early Years

A/N:

This story takes place in the d20 world of Pathfinder, in the realm of Golarion. All places and locations are property of Pathfinder. Esme, however, is mine. This is her story.

I must stress that this is a WIP. Esme is actually a character I am playing, and although her back story is unfolding here, eventually her missions and adventures will appear as well.

* * *

The Early Years

I never knew my father. What little mother spoke of him was only when she was deep in her cups, and even those times it was liberally sprinkled with the type of words more suited to an ale wife, not the gentle seamstress she really was.

All I really understood was that she gave him a compassionate shoulder when he was in need, and he gave her a belly full of trouble.

Trouble. That's all I really was to her. Oh, she never said as much, but deep down I knew the truth. I knew I was the real reason she fled Korvosa all those years ago. As far as I know, she never even told him of me. A woman has her pride after all.

She tried to be a good mother. Well, as good as one can be, raising an unwanted child. I know it was because of me that she made the long journey to Nybor. Nybor is the perfect place for a woman like that with a brat like me in her belly. At least that's what outsiders are lead to believe. She always told me that I was special, that this is the place we were meant to go. But she didn't hear the taunting names when she around me. But then children are cruel little beasts. More vicious than the most ravenous flesh-ripper. But I digress.

The summer I turned ten, she shattered my hopes of being part of a real family. Mother had met a handsome merchant from the port city of Magnimar. He swept her off her feet, and swept me under the rug. I thought I was going to be a normal girl finally. A loving mother, a hard working father. A family that was complete. A family that would put a stop to the taunts of the other children.

Whore's Get

Trollop Spawn

Tart's Brat

I could name dozens, but those were the nicer things they called me.

The night of the harvest festival my world truly broke apart for the first time. My stepfather told me he had arranged for an apprenticeship for me. Oh, how naively excited I was. I followed him to the market, my meager belongings in a small bag and a stupid grin on my face.

Apprenticeship. I never even bothered to ask what kind. Though I doubt it would have mattered. His honeyed words would have paid lip service to whatever he thought I'd like to hear. He knew how to charm and beguile as well as any sorcerer.

That night I was sold for the first time. The slavers must have seen potential in me, or perhaps just the higher price my innocence would fetch. We traveled for what seemed like ages. It would to anyone locked in a slave's cage on a caravan to an unknown destination. They treated us like animals. I still remember one boy. He used to mock me. Thought he was better than I because he could name both of his parents. Now was my turn to laugh. His parents apparently needed the gold far more than they needed a brat. He refused to look me in the eyes. I never even looked at him when they hauled him off to the market of Magnimar. Why should I care? I was to be sold also. Though for a far more carnal buyer.

We were only in Magnimar for a day before I was sold once more. Fifty-gold pieces. Seems a lot for a young girl's innocence. Perhaps not as much as I had thought, however, once I realized I might not be sold…but rented. By the hour, by the day…the thoughts terrified me. Though my fears were far from being realized.

The Madam, as I was to call her, was a red-faced woman who had grown fat off the work of her 'girls'. Though, girls is perhaps the wrong word. There were a handful of boys and even some young men in her employ. Employ. Ha! As though any of us would ever see a copper from our work. For now I was pushed aside though. A brief reprieve before my true purpose would come to be. I was cleaned up and fed. Though fear sat like a cold stone in my belly, I was almost relieved to be treated like a human once more.

The more time passed before I was set to work the more jumpy I got. It felt like my nerves were strings stretched too tight across a lute, and one wrong note might make them snap. Though I was terrified of what fate might lay before me, my every sense was on high alert. I heard all that went on around me, I saw much, and I waited. For what I still don't know.

One afternoon Madam took me into the market to finally outfit me for my first job. She browsed through fabrics so thin I thought they would surely tear the moment they touched me. I shuddered at the thought of being made to wear that before a stranger. Then I reminded myself that before my job was done I'd be wearing far less. As she began to haggle over the price with the vendor, my attention was caught by a commotion beginning near the market square. They were a pair of wiry young men shoving each other. Though soon the shoving and the guttural insults ceased as they both drew deadly looking blades.

I found myself mesmerized by the flashing of the swords. They each had a rapier drawn as well as a smaller knife and were dual wielding the weapons in a flurry of clanging metal and graceful steps. I found myself rooted to the spot, and a crowd began to form around the two combatants. Madam had not yet seemed to notice the scuffle and I tugged on her sleeve as I noticed the fighting growing quickly closer to where we were. It was a move that would forever alter my path.

"Impertinent child! I'm busy" she snapped at me without even looking about. She reached her arm and shoved me backwards. My slight form was easily moved by the force and I stumbled and spun into the path of the oncoming swordsmen. Instinct I never knew I had kicked in at that moment and as the blades flashed about me I tumbled and turned through the midst of both men and landed smoothly on the far side of them. Somehow I made it through that deadly space without a single scratch on me. I looked down, counted my limbs and fingers then looked up in shock at the men.

Seeing my small form flying through the space between them was enough to bring pause to the fighters. As those two men stood and stared at me, Madam began ranting about how they had nearly damaged her property. Never mind it was she who had shoved me in the way

I felt the flush of shame creep up my face, as everyone in the crowd turned to look at me. Property….the whispers began. Whore….Trollop…Tramp…Tart….I could hear the murmur of voices all around me. But in the weeks since I'd been sold I'd run out of tears to cry. Though my cheeks burned, I clenched my jaw and kept my head held high. As the two fighters stared at me I held their gazes and stared back.

They were both fairly young, perhaps not past their thirtieth summer yet. Though they had a look about them as though they had seen far more than many their age. As I stood locking stares with them the silence was abruptly shattered by the firm voice of another man striding through the crowd.

This man seemed familiar, I thought perhaps I had seen him near Madam, just before she shoved me, but now he was approaching from the other side of the square. Madam just continued to lash out at the fighters verbally, demanding compensation for the fright they had set upon her girl.

"Silence Harpy!" he growled at Madam as she still cawed grievances from the sidelines, afraid to be too close to the armed men she was so intent on berating.

The man strode up to the swordsmen and grasped them by their shirts. The taller one looked at me, and then looked back to the new man again.

"Tobias! Gavin! What is the meaning of this, and what is this nattering shrew going on about? Hmmm?" he asked in a quiet, yet deadly tone as he released them once more.

"…Sir, I can exp…"

"…well, it's just…"

The man narrowed his eyes at their stuttering and held up his hand.

"Quiet! I'll listen to your pathetic excuses when we've returned to the shop. Now get out of my sight before I thoroughly trounce you both here and now!"

The two chastised young men bowed their heads petulantly and walked off as they sheathed their blades.

The crowd soon began to disperse as the entertainment seemed to have died down. However the excitement was not over for me. The man crossed his arms and looked me up and down, as though I were a horse. One side of his mouth lifted briefly in a wry grin and turning towards Madam, held up his hand in hopes of forestalling her next tirade of perceived wrongs.

"How much?" he said it in such a casual tone, one might have thought he was perusing the wares of the local fishmonger, rather than the flesh monger.

She huffed a bit and smirked at him as she simply replied "Not for sale."

"Ah, my dear, that's where you're quite wrong….you see, everyone has a price…."

The madam narrowed her eyes and looked at me, then returned her gaze to the man.

"She has been reserved for the weekend by request of a most generous and wealthy benefactor….I doubt the likes of you could afford to rent her time this week…although she will have lost some value by this time next week…I suppose I could reserve you a time."

The man raised one dark brow and with a smirk of his own replied"Not her time. Her."

As the two of them bartered over my perceived innocence, and the value that added, I took the time to study the dark Varissian before me. He held himself as one who knew he had the upper hand, but wanted to draw the game out and watch his opponent struggle to win. Dressed all in black, he seemed to absorb the very light from the area and I felt my eyes drawn to his face. As if he sensed my observation he turned and winked at me.

I returned his look with narrowed eyes. There was something not right about this whole situation, but my young mind could not quite grasp what it was. There was something about him. Something that all his charm was covering. Something cold and calculated. I felt a shiver run down my spine, but held his gaze. A small approving grin graced his features. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, Madam spoke once more.

"Fifty plat…not a piece less"

I gasped. Even I knew by then she was asking an exorbitant sum for a slave, virgin or not. I had yet to realize the full potential I held. The raw potential that this strange man seemed intent on possessing.

The man never even flinched. He merely reached into his pouch, produced the coins and as they coldly clinked into her outstretched hand I found myself sold once again.

"Come" he ordered and began to walk swiftly through the market. My short legs scurried to keep up with his much longer stride.

Soon we found ourselves on down near the water. My senses were overwhelmed with the sights sounds and smells of the sea. We followed the coast for a bit till we finally reached the Shadow. Even I, in my short time here had heard of the Shadow….the district so called because you could count on one hand the number of hours in a day that daylight even touched the area. It was not that it was cursed, merely that the massive bridge cast such a dark shadow over the area that no light could disrupt it.

It was a perfect hideaway for those of less than noble purpose. As my new owner led me down the path to Underbridge I realized that it was to become my new home. My eyes slowly adjusted to the dark path we were walking, and I could feel my new owner grasp my wrist and tug me closer to him.

"Stay close to me, Nymph….wouldn't want to lose you to the dark," he chuckled, though I did not see the humor in his words. Truth be told it was all I could do to see much of anything in the twilight aura that permeated the street. I was able to see him, though. I distractedly watched the nimble and smooth gait of him. It was disconcerting how his black attire seemed to make him disappear into the inky darkness that permeated the area. Yet the careless demeanor of his body seemed to mask a quiet deadliness that lay just beyond the surface.

It occurred to my befuddled mind that perhaps I should be afraid. But then, as my turbulent thoughts swirled about me, it occurred to me that he would be a fool to drop such a large sum of money, simply to buy a whore and horribly murder her. I once again had that feeling as though so much more than I realized was going on, yet my young innocent mind could scarcely begin to comprehend the path that would soon lie before me.

As we stopped in front of a large brick building he paused and said "Welcome home" just as he swept open the large door and shoved me into the room. I stood blinking owlishly as my eyes struggled to adjust to the brightness of the room.

The man in black was instantly swept up in a shoulder pounding hug by Tobias and Gavin. Tobias soon directed me to a table and set food down before me. I looked at the food warily. It smelled divine, and I had not eaten since the day before, yet I found myself hesitant to touch it. Slave owners were not nice people. They only fed you enough to sustain the work they required from you. Although being brought to a strange dark place by three men…I shuddered and decided to stop that path of thoughts before they started. Out of reflex, and fear of repercussion, I began to slowly eat the stew that he had set before me.

"So I see ya bought the little scamp, eh, Jayge?" Tobias grinned.

"As Gavin requested, Toby" Jayge smiled as his eyes darted towards me.

"And what did she cost us?" Gavin asked as he held out his hand towards Jayge.

Placing the bag of coin in Gavin's hand, Jayge laughed, "Spent fifty plat to take her from that wretched woman, but managed to 'find' 150 plat in the crowd while they were busy watching you two dance about"

My spoon dropped from my hand as I realized what he'd said. I realized the kind of place I'd been brought to. I looked about me and began to take in my surroundings. Though sparse, it seemed that there was something not right about this place. I realized that the room we were in was far smaller than it should have been given the size of the building, yet I could see no doors. My eyes were still busy scanning the walls when Gavin approached me.

Peering at me from over Gavin's shoulder, Tobias winked at me, "Don't let Jayge's dark and pompous act fool ya, Scamp, Gavin's the one in charge."

My eyes swept up to Gavin's face, confusion apparent on my face.

"First Lesson: Appearances can be deceiving, don't be fooled by them, but use them to your advantage. Toby and I staged the fight. Between our little show, and the scene that woman was making by yelling at us, we brought in quite the shiny pile of coins." His face grew serious as he put his fingers under my chin and tipped my head up to look into my eyes.

"You, however, were quire the lucky find. You're untrained, that much is apparent in that clumsy bit of tumbling you did. But I can see the raw talent is there…I have great plans for you…and in a few years time…I can see a whole other direction of potential in your future….but you're a long way to go yet, Vixen."

As the words began to sink in the first cramp raked across my belly. My eyes widened but I refused to say a word. I'd yet to speak to any of them, and I wouldn't allow my first words to be a sign of weakness. Another cramp hit my guts and I clenched my hands but still didn't say a word. As they looked at me sweat broke out across my brow. They all had the agility to move just as the meager contents of my stomach forcefully reemerged.

"Second Lesson: Never take food when you don't know where it came from, Vixen….you never know who might want to poison you." I leaned over and groaned. As I expelled what was left of my meal I turned to the side and slumped forward on the bench.

Gavin quickly moved forward, alarm apparent in his voice as he leaned over my limp body, "how much did you put in that, Toby?! By Cayden! If she dies I'll send you to your god in pieces!" Realizing he was looking at Toby as he shouted I sensed my chance. I quickly stood up, shoving my shoulder hard under Gavin's chin, then rolled forward between his legs. Gaining my feet, I quickly bolted towards the door. Unfortunately I'd forgotten about Jayge.

Jayge scooped me up in one arm and laughed. I'd blown my chance. I could have been free, but being distracted by the vomiting, I had forgotten about the third member of my owners. Tears ran down my face, but I ignored them. I tried to kick at him but he just dropped me. I landed hard on my arse.

"Vixen, you have spirit….but you have much to learn…."Gavin was grinning as he walked towards me, rubbing his jaw. He was beginning to bruise already, and I felt a small twinge of remorse, mixed with satisfaction. It was the last thing I saw before Jayge reached from behind me and covered my mouth and nose with a strange smelling cloth. I struggled briefly before I felt my eyes drift shut and the voices around me dull to silence.

* * *

To be continued……


	2. Training Begins

As always...Pathfinder world = not mine. Esme and her associates = mine.

* * *

I came to with an aching head and a dry mouth. As I slowly became aware of my surroundings I realized I was lying on a small pallet on the floor; a musty blanket thinly covering me against the draft. My eyes adjusted to the light, and as the room swam back into focus I saw the grinning face of Tobias crouched over me.

He held out a mug towards me. It looked like water. Dirty water. I looked at the mug then back to his face, and though my throat was parched, I croaked in a harsh whisper, "you first." He tossed back his head in a hearty laugh and took a generous swig from the mug. I continued to eye him warily.

"You're learning fast, Vixen," he said as he handed the now half empty mug to me. I pulled myself into a seated position and grasped the mug with both hands. Dismayed to notice the slight tremor to my hands, I shakily raised the mug to my lips and drank deeply.

It wasn't water.

It was rum.

I held my expression firm and swallowed it down hard. It burned like a warm ember writhing down my throat and settled hard in my stomach. If he was expecting me to cough and sputter, I'd be damned if I was going to give him the satisfaction of it.

"Ah… my plan to give you a reminder of lesson one has come back to bite me in the arse!" he smirked.

I just stared at him over the rim of the mug as I took another drink.

"I'd thought to remind you that appearances can be deceiving, yet to see you toss back that grog with such apparent ease, it is I who was reminded. Good show, Vixen, you mask your face, and that will serve you well."

"Now up with you! There's much learning to be done, and your training begins straight off. Jayge and Gavin are waiting for ya, so don't give them a reason to punish…well, more than you already have, " he winked at me "Gavin got quite the bruise on his jaw from that move of yours, I doubt he'll underestimate you again so easily, Vixen."

"Esme" I said. It was spoken quietly, yet firmly, and I stared boldly into his eyes as I sat on the pallet, not budging an inch.

He merely raised an eyebrow at me and with a wry grin said, "Perhaps that's who you once were, but now, you'll be known as Vixen…your true name, keep that close…especially here in Underbridge. That knowledge can be dangerous. Think you that Tobias, Gavin, and Jayge are names our own mother's gave us?" he laughed.

"Times are dangerous, and for now you'll be called Vixen. At least until we find something more suitable for our little protégé."

But a new, normal name was not forth coming. Vixen I was called, and Vixen I remained. Though I knew in my heart I was truly Esme, it was a name not shared or spoken of until many years had passed.

Those first few months with my new 'family' were most difficult. My body learned to move and bend in ways I'd not though possible as they trained me in the abilities well suited to a citizen of Underbridge. They taught me skills of the street. To move through a crowd as though I were no more than a thought on a breeze. To tumble across rooftops as though I were a leaf, lightly skipping from one point to the next. They taught me to read people. Not just the words spoken, but the sounds, the looks; and at the same time to hide my own true thoughts from others.

As the years passed I became more nimble than they could have ever hoped. The raw skill seen in the square all those years ago was just barely a scratch on the surface of what abilities I truly became capable of. However, my training was not yet complete. I'd only had half of my training for what they intended of me. The summer I turned 15 it was time for the next phase of my education. Though I could never have imagined what fate had in store for me.

* * *

To be continued…


End file.
